Thursday, June 23, 2005

You would think that a place as "pristine" asAntarctica would be on the cutting edge ofmodern energy technology...wind, solar, steam,hydroelectric, etc. But ... not here at McMurdo.Each of the little numbers on this map representsa fuel tank that keeps a building warm. The hugefuel tanks on the lower right hand side of thepicture aren't numbered, but each holds thousandsof gallons of a special fuel that doesn't freeze easily.Overall, McMurdo can store up to 12 million gallonsof fuel. The Kiwi's at Scott Base and the Australianprogramme are exploring the possibility of usingwind power to help alleviate their fuel dependency.Will McMurdo? I guess we'll have to wait and see.